It Takes Some Bad for Satisfaction
by TreasuresofRule
Summary: An Au Crystal Tokyo setting. The Shitennou are reanimated to find themselves in a much altered world, one in which their memories of the silver millennium are returning and they're fighting alongside their former ally: King Endymion.
1. Prologue

PROLOGUE

**I based this story partially off of the concept of an rpg I was on and helped with the plot for so it's all good. (To be fair this idea was also inspired by one of the Sera Myu musicals -- also this will be said once and only once: I don't own Sailor Moon, if I did this would very obviously be canon and not fanfiction).**

Jade eyes flicked open in the darkness. Where was he? The thought came unbidden to his mind. He could feel something cold and solid beneath his body: a floor. The last thing he could remember was golden hair and the burning sensation of his skin being torn apart by razors, little crescent moon razors. Oh yes, he couldn't forget that now, could he? Just as he couldn't forget the name of the person who had done it: Sailor Venus. His blood boiled at the mere thought of her. She would have to wait though. He had other things to worry about.

The first of which being how he was here at all. He had died, there was no way around that little fact. That blond haired baka had come all the way to Japan from England to mock him one final time by finishing him off. How then was he still alive? At least he assumed he was alive. It was entirely possible that he was in the after life: eternity in darkness with a stiff back on a cold floor. Charming. He caught sight of a light wavering just on the edges of his vision and turned his head away from the unpleasant sensation it caused to his eyes. Someone was calling his name. He could hear it penetrating his thoughts like the poison he recognized it to be. No other voice could instill such an annoyance, such a silent rage through him. "**Zoisite**, **stand up and greet your master,**" the voice of the woman he would have once obeyed without a second thought -- not that he would have had much of a choice in the matter -- commanded. No sooner had he regained consciousness, than he had realized whose orders it had been that had led him to his untimely death. The woman who had poisoned the only friends he'd had and his own mind.

His gaze shifted to her, a retort as to just what he thought about this 'master' fresh on his tongue, when he saw who stood beside her. He scrambled to his feet only to incline his body from the waist up, copper blond locks obscuring a face that registered shock. The tousled black locks, the royal blue eyes, and that unmistakable noble air could only describe one person. "**E-endymion-sama,**" he managed, the words barely a whisper. A rush of memories accompanied his use of the name; memories he had not known he'd possessed.

_His first day at the Terran Palace to begin his training as a shitennou; just after his 14th birthday. His introduction to the prince he would be protecting and the three men he would consider his brothers . A flash of silver and black as he sat back watching Kunzite and Endymion sparring with swords alongside Nephrite and Jadeite. Endymion laughing as he murmured that he wouldn't be able to go to the ball because he'd never learned to dance, and then graciously agreeing to teach him. _The memories grew darker after that. _Arguments with the prince about that damned Lunarian princess. An unexpected meeting with a red haired witch and then nothing until the image of a sword being plunged into the dark haired man's back by the same witch. _

He clutched at his head, his mind reeling from the sudden overload of memories. He felt a hand on his shoulder then; a familiar pressure of comfort that he knew he didn't deserve. "**Gomen naisai, Endymion-sama**," he began. "**I, we--**" The prince cut him off with a finger placed to his own lips. "**It's all right Zoisite," **he assured him with a smile. **"That's all in the past now. I have a lot to atone for as well. Chaos and Beryl have given me the chance to make amends." **The smile that followed his comment sent shivers down the young man's spine.


	2. It All Begins Tonight

**Heads up: I didn't put this in the summary, but my chapters will eventually have some shonen ai/ yaoi. You've been warned, so none of this "flaming' nonsense, if you would.**

Zoisite passed back and forth in the confines of his room, his fingers tangling in his hair in frustration. "**I don't like it**," he said and not for the first time since he'd gathered the room's other occupants together. "**We heard you the first eight times**," a voice retorted disinterestedly from his bed. An auburn haired man half lay, half sat at the bed's edge, pulling at a loose thread on the spread. "**Well it was true the first eight times too**," Zoisite quipped back. "**And stop that, you'll unravel it.**" The blond haired young man sprawled on the floor had opened his mouth to add something, but a deep voice cut him off. "**Don't encourage them Jadeite,**" the tall white haired man said calmly from his spot leaning against the far wall. Bickering was one of Zoisite and Nephrite's favorite past times, and if left alone the two might never shut up.

Zoisite turned his attention over to the eldest shitennou. If he had cut them off so early perhaps he wasn't the only one irritated by this turn of events. "**Kunzite, we can't just let Endymion-sama go to this ball**," he began, hoping to gain support from his old mentor. Surely if anyone would see reason it would be him. "**I mean with all due respect**," he went on. During the pause in which he took a breath, a derisive snort could be heard coming from the bed. He fought the smirk that tried to spread to his lips. They all knew how very little respect any of them had for two of the three people in charge. He knew he was supposed to be thankful that Chaos had opened Endymion's eyes to light, and given them all a chance to make amends for their past failures, but something about the being had him on edge. "**Chaos has to be out of his mind. One senshi isn't worth risking his exposure. One of us could easily go after the Mercurial princess and shut her up**."

In the past two months the guardian senshi and the Baka-sama had operated under the belief that their king had died in battle. It was a belief that they relied on heavily for their plans to run smoothly. Of course it was a complete and utter lie. Endymion was alive and well, living in a realm created by Chaos; albeit a bit restless and irritable at having to keep a low profile. His cabin fever had gotten the best of him though, and he had apparently wandered out into the city. Of course fortune had never exactly smiled on the Terran King and sure enough he was discovered by the senshi from Mercury. He'd spun her a story about being held against his will by Chaos to protect them, but Chaos hadn't been convinced. He now insisted the king go to the upcoming celebratory ball to either confirm or deny her belief in his story. If she was gullible enough to believe it, she lived. If she was too clever for her own good, well Zoisite could imagine all sorts of ways Chaos would deal with her. He shuddered at the thought.

He'd regained more memories than he'd bargained for when he'd been revived: most were vague snippets of a past life. One in which he realized he'd shared. . . feelings with someone: the same Mercurial princess now in question. He didn't try to delude himself into thinking he carried the same torch for her, the years had long since dulled any romantic notions he might hold for her. He didn't want her dead though. The other senshi he could care less about, with the exception of an extremely vivid death he fantasized about for Sailor Venus, but Mercury he didn't want dead.

He was drawn from his musings as he felt a hand resting on his shoulder. He glanced up into silver grey eyes, his head tilted slightly in confusion. "**I said**," Kunzite began, his tone suggesting that he would not repeat himself again. "**That it can't be helped. Chaos won't be dissuaded**." Zoisite frowned, at Kunzite's words, trying to ignore how acutely aware he had become of the weight of his hand on his shoulder. Now was definitely not the time to be thinking about that. "**That doesn't mean he'll be going alone. I fully intend to follow him and keep an eye on him,**" he explained. Zoisite let out a relieved sigh. He knew he could count on him to be one step ahead of Chaos. "**In that case, I better find something ball appropriate,**" Zoisite said, trying and failing to hide his eagerness to get out of this realm of darkness. Kunzite arched a brow at him. "**And why would you do that?**" he began warily. "**I'm going with, obviously. Two pairs of eyes are better than one**," Zoisite explained. Kunzite began to protest, but was cut off by the sound of Jadeite's voice. "**Make that three,**" he said with a wry grin. There was a long pause followed by an overly dramatic sigh. "**Fine, four**," came Nephrite's reply.

Zoisite hid his frown as he shot a brief and sidelong glance at the paled haired man before glancing down at his boots. Of course he was glad that they all wanted to be there to protect Endymion, but for a moment -even if it was a slightly deluded moment- he had thought he might be able to go with Kunzite. Of course the older man would have just seen it as a mission anyway. There was a disgruntled sigh followed by, "**If you must, but everyone goes in disguise and behave yourselves. We don't want any unnecessary attention.**" The latter part had been directed at Nephrite and Zoisite, who nodded in mock solemnity. "**Arigato, Kunzite**," Zoisite said, happy at least that this meant an excuse to go out for something other than a mission or to his "job" - which was really just a means to get a feel of the outer parts of Crystal Tokyo. Kunzite looked at him a moment hesitantly, his hand coming off his shoulder to hover over his head. Whatever he may have been thinking, he seemed to think better of and turned back towards the other two, muttering "**Hai, hai,**" under his breath.

**Also thanks very much to the reviewers. ^^ More to come.**


	3. I May Never Come Down Again

**So yeah. . .how 'bout that looong wait? I have no real excuse besides me lacking interest in Sailor Moon for a while. Not that I stopped liking it ( I heart my Sailor Moon!) I just needed a break. I stopped rping it and everything. (eekgads!) I cosplayed Zoisite two months ago though, and that seemed to be the kick I needed.**

With the way Nephrite was complaining, you'd think the youngest shitennou was _actually _taking a year to get ready. Zoisite's irritated calls of "**You can't rush perfection, baka**!" were not placating him in the least. Jadeite merely smiled and shook his head, but it seemed even Kunzite was losing his patience with him. The eldest shitennou raised one hand, absent of it's usual white glove for once, ready to remind Zoisite that they were going to keep an eye on their king and not to impress anyone, when the door opened. The Zoisite that stepped out was not one that they were used to seeing, though none of them really looked like themselves at the moment. As per Kunzite's orders they had adopted their disguises for the evening. Nephrite's hair had darkened, losing some of the red highlights, and perched upon his nose were a pair of black rimmed glasses. Kunzite's long silver hair had shortened and turned completely black, his grey eyes now a shade of brown. Jadeite's hair, while still curly, had turned a chocolate color two shades darker than his skin. Zoisite's once copper locks were now black and shorter by far than he was entirely comfortable with. They stopped just short of his shoulders, framing his face in layers. His once green eyes were now a burgundy color**.**

**"We waited an hour for that?" **Nephrite said, one eyebrow arched in accusation. Zoisite had opened his mouth to fire back with just what he thought of Nephrite's taste in clothing, but a look from Kunzite had him huffing and heading off to their designated "departure room," muttering about incompetent, alcoholic, superiors. **"I don't think it looked that bad," **Jadeite murmured, joining the other two as they followed Zoisite's lead. Nephrite shook his head at the younger man. **"That's not really the point," **he said with a grin. The room the four men entered was normally used for them to meet and go over their assigned duties for the week, or to plan out a strategy if the need arose. Now they merely used it as a place they could all agree to leave from. . .and meet back at if need be.

Moments after they had all arrived in the room, they teleported to the Crystal Palace; their figures flickering into existence just outside the gardens. Guests could be seen filtering in through the large double doors. The sight of it sickened Zoisite. Their king had been dead only months at most and they were throwing a ball, at least as far as the Baka-sama (a name he had not-so-affectionately bestowed on the Lunarian Queen) was concerned he'd been dead a month. The news hadn't seemed to spread to the people of Crystal Tokyo just yet. Though rumors and suspicion had been spreading as to the whereabouts of the king: people couldn't be expected not to notice his absence. He hadn't appeared in such a long time. He suspected they were keeping it under wraps due to Chaos's involvement. It was perhaps, a strategic attempt to distract the people from the growing suspicion; not that he'd ever admit that _she _had done something even vaguely clever. With a scowl now set on his face, he made his way towards the doors. The ball was to be held in honor of the Blue Moon. There had been a faire in the town for the past week to celebrate the event. The blue moon itself was not a complete rarity, a blue moon occurred once every two or three years, but leave it to that Baka-sama to latch onto an excuse to glorify her precious moon.

He waited for the others, not wanting to have to face what was inside by himself if he didn't have to. He knew the senshi would be in there, waiting, and that he wouldn't be allowed to hurt a single one of them as it would defeat the entire purpose of his disguise. As if reading his thoughts, he could feel the pressure of a familiar hand on his shoulder, squeezing lightly to remind him of their purpose. Removing it as quickly as he had put it there, Kunzite directed them inside and to a table in the corner with an excellent view of the entire room. It didn't take them long to spot the dark figure of Endymion on the opposite side of the room. He stood away from the crowd, his dark hair obscuring the black velvet mask on his face. Under normal circumstances, a mask may have drawn more attention to him, however at least half of the guests present wore a mask of some sort, allowing him a level of anonymity.

Kunzite settled himself down, his eyes trained on the man they had sworn to protect and failed two times too many, and the others followed suit. After ten minutes or so it became apparent to them all that this was the older man had planned for the entire evening. The fidgeting followed soon after that. It began with restless shuffling, and progressed to using spoons as a crude, makeshift catapult to launch sugar cubes at one another. With narrowed eyes that threatened cruel and unusual punishment if one of them should hit him, Kunzite suggested, though that was perhaps too polite a word, that they go see to the refreshment table. Nephrite and Jadeite didn't need telling twice. They quickly disappeared to the drink table. Zoisite tutted softly at their predictability. To be fair, he would have joined them, and gotten one of them to slip him a drink, if it hadn't meant leaving Kunzite to do all the work himself. After all he was the one who had made such a fuss about Endymion being forced to go to in the first place. Not to mention a part of him seized upon the realization that with Nephrite and Jadeite gone it left him and Kunzite alone. It was rare these days that he found time alone with his former mentor, which was made all the more frustrating now that he could remember a time when Kunzite had not been as cold and unfeeling towards them.

Twice the older man had taken him under his wing. The first had been after his arrival in the Terran Kingdom. He had been the older brother Zoisite had needed in all that. The second had been when Beryl had re-awoken his past twelve years ago. Kunzite had not been much of anything then. Beryl had stripped him of almost everything that had made him Kunzite. He had taught a twelve year old Zoisite everything he would need to know to survive when he would be sent off to Europe. Perhaps it was then that these feelings had started building inside him. Kunzite had taken time that the others hadn't. True: he had been made Kunzite's responsibility so it wasn't as though he had a choice, and it wasn't as if he'd ever gone easy on his pupil. In fact, he was probably more strict with him. There were times though, times when he had caught hints of humanity from the older man. It may have been hidden under a careless comment or harsh words, but it was there. Kunzite had warned him against following in Nephrite and Jadeite's footsteps, and had helped him along in his plans to get the ginzuishou. He had shared a familiarity with the older man that the other two hadn't.

**"You don't have to stay here." **Kunzite's deep voice drew him out of his musings. **"Eh?" **came his dignified reply, his head tilting in slight confusion. Kunzite motioned towards their two comrades. **"You can go ahead and join them," **he continued. **"I can keep an eye on Endymion-sama. You should enjoy tonight while you can." **Zoisite could read the unspoken message in that. If everything went well tonight, their plans would be set in motion the next day and there would be little time for frivolous things like balls in their future. Still he shook his head at the idea. **"I don't mind," **he said simply, resting his chin on the palms of his hands, his gaze shifting to Endymion as if to prove his point. He watched as the king seemed to spot someone, his body straightening and his head jerking suddenly. Endymion never had been one for subtlety. Moments later the king had disappeared, following after a young woman in a pale blue gown. It seemed he had lost no time in finding the Mercurial princess.

It was only after this that he allowed his gaze to wander. He saw the blond haired queen standing there surrounded by her guardians; so close and yet they weren't allowed to snuff her out. The idea of it was ridiculous, and yet Chaos had made it clear that he would be the one to end Serenity once and for all. They weren't allowed to interfere. That thought alone was enough to offset his entire evening, and so he allowed his gaze to wander over to the refreshment table. Sure enough there were the other two: chatting, drinking and eyeing some of the girls at a nearby table. With a roll of his eyes and a grin on his face, he returned his gaze to Kunzite. The grin turned into an inquisitive look as he noticed the older man staring out at the dance floor. The look on his face was. . .nostalgic seemed the best word to describe it. There was a softness there that Zoisite could swear he had never seen, and yet there was something familiar about it. There was a sort of guilty pleasure in in his gaze like the times he looked at Endymion and yet different somehow. Zoisite followed his gaze out to the dance floor and felt his stomach drop unpleasantly. _Her._

He would never forget, never forgive, the woman he saw standing out there: her long, silky golden hair trailing down her bare back, her cerulean eyes sparkling with unheard laughter as she placed a crystal flute to her pale pink lips. Oh yes she was just as pretty as she had been when last he'd seen her and he hated her for it. She was the last thing he'd ever seen before being resigned to death. It was funny, in a morbid way, but his last thought had been of how unfair it was that she'd followed him all the way from England, and didn't she have anything better to do then stalk him? His eyes narrowed as he watched her out there. She was older than he was now, all of the senshi were, more mature than she had been back then. She was closer to Kunzite's age than he would ever be, and that thought only managed to add to his frustration. When last he'd met the senshi, he had been the older more mature one - well mostly. Being brought back the same age left him feeling out of place. He also knew that, like himself, the other shitennou had to remember certain aspects of their past lives. It wasn't exactly a secret that Kunzite, their leader, had been involved with the leader of the princess's protectors and just because his feelings for Sailor Mercury had stayed buried with the rest of his sins from the past didn't mean the same was true for the others. Perfect. She was still ruining things for him even in this third reincarnated body. When the time came to fight, he knew he would have no problems destroying her.

How was he supposed to compete against someone whose very name embodied love and beauty anyway? Someone who was winning even without knowing they were competing in the first place? He sighed softly, his posture drooping slightly. "**She may be beautiful,**" he almost whispered. "**But she's still the enemy.**" Kunzite turned back towards him, as if waking from a daze, one eyebrow arched in slight confusion. "**What did you say?**" he asked. With an ever so slightly strained smile, Zoisite stood up. "**I said I think I'll go join Nami and Jirou after all**," he said quickly. He was rather proud that he'd managed to remember their cover names as well. With that, he nodded once to Kunzite and went over to the refreshment table to join the other two, leaving a somewhat confused Kunzite to brood by himself.

He walked right passed Nephrite, who seemed to be doing his best not to draw attention to the fact that he was staring at a rather tall auburn haired woman, and grabbed one of the glasses from the table. It didn't matter that he was underage in most parts of the planet now, he was a shitennou and if he wanted a drink he was going to have one, damn it. With another sigh, he leaned back against the table beside Jadeite and stared over at Kunzite. "**You realize it's never going to happen, don't you**?" he heard Nephrite say. Zoisite bit back his initial reply, taking a determined swig of his drink instead. "**I don't know what you're talking about**," he ground out at length. Even Jadeite couldn't fight back the snort at that, and though Zoisite could admit he wasn't the most subtle of people, their mockery wasn't improving his mood any. Nephrite eyed the amber colored liquid in his glass a moment before continuing. "**Oh I think you know exactly what I'm talking about, Zuru,**" he said, a smirk contorting his lips. "**And it's never going to happen**." He knew Nephrite was just trying to get a rise out of him, and had this been any other situation he would have taken the bait. This was not the kind of thing he wanted to talk about with the others though, let alone bicker about over drinks. His grip tightened on the handle of his flute as he took another forcibly calm drink. "**And you're the expert, are you**?" he asked icily, one eyebrow arched condescendingly as he turned his head towards the auburn haired woman from before.

Nephrite's eyes narrowed at the jibe. He hated it when Zoisite tried to turn the tables on him, but he knew it was just a diversion strategy. "**Fine, I'll make you a deal, if you think I'm wrong**," Nephrite said, his eyes alight with unspoken mischief. Zoisite shrugged, the perfect picture of indifference except for the slightly curious look on his face. "**Ask him to dance**," Nephrite said with a smirk. Jadiete's resulting snort cause him to choke on his drink. Nephrite slapped his back to help him, his eyes never leaving the youngest of their group. Zoisite's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at his spectacled friend. "**I'm not seeing how that's a deal,**"he said curtly, finishing off what remained of his drink. Nephrite's smirk only grew wider at that comment. "**If you do, then I'll ask Juno to dance**," he finished. Nephrite had no doubt in his mind that Zoisite wouldn't dare ask the eldest of their group any such thing. In fact this conversation was the closest he'd ever come to admitting he even felt anything for him. Zoisite's lips were pursed in thought as he absently grabbed another glass from the table to replace his now empty one. The idea was ludicrous, even to him. Kunzite had no tolerance for those kinds of frivolous things, that much was a given, and he doubted the serious man would want to make a scene by dancing with another man. It took another two drinks before he had convinced himself there was even the tiniest ray of hope. Zoisite had never had much of a head for alcohol, though he hadn't had many occasions to test his tolerance either. He was still coherent enough to walk in a straight line, which was a good sign. With his jaw firmly set, he sat down his drink and headed back over to the table. Nephrite and Jadeite exchanged a confused look, that turned into mild horror on Nephrite's part and amusement on Jadeite's. "**He isn't**-" Nephrite began. Jadeite chuckled at the look on his drinking partner's face. "**You are unequivocally screwed**," he said cheerily.

Zoisite couldn't hear them as he sat down at the table once more. The closer he had gotten, the less sure of his decision he had been. He had almost decided against saying anything when he felt the older man's eyes on him. He slowly lifted his head and met his gaze. One eyebrow was arched in silent inquiry at him, and Zoisite knew it was now or never. He took a deep breath to steady his irrationally pounding heart and said the first thing he could think of. "**Dance with me**," he blurted out. In his head he had imagined himself being a little less direct, but then in his head he hadn't been drinking. Kunzite's eyes scrunched in confusion at his words, his mouth opening without making any sound. Zoisite felt his stomach sinking unpleasantly as he watched him. "**Ah that is**-" he stammered slightly. "**There's just - with Endymion-sama gone and you're not doing anything, and I'm not doing anything, and it's a ball and. . .**" If he could teleport away without drawing attention to himself he would have. He wanted to sink down through the floor as far away from here as he could get. He was making a fool of himself, he knew, and in front of a man he respected. He had known this was a bad idea right from the very beginning, but like an idiot he'd come over anyway. He couldn't stop his mind from wondering though; 'if _she _had asked, would he have just said yes?' "**Forget I said anything**," he said quickly, a nervous chuckle escaping his lips as he turned to head back to the other two. He felt a hand latch onto his wrist. If his stomach could drop any further it would have actually left his body. He turned slowly, trying his best to make his expression a mask of indifference. Kunzite was looking at him with scrutiny. "**Did Nephrite put you up to this**?" he asked. Sometimes he wondered if Kunzite couldn't read his thoughts. Zoisite could feel his cheeks getting warmer. "**No, can't we just drop it and forget it**?" he said in a strained voice. He tried to turn away again, but the older shitennou's grip only tightened. His eyes narrowed in discomfort as he turned back to look at his former mentor. "**Then why did you ask**?" The question had Zoisite speechless for a moment. His slightly addled mind took a moment to register the fact that he tried his very best to make sure Kunzite never found out about this. There was something about the question, perhaps how genuinely curious he had sounded, that reminded Zoisite of one of the many reasons he cared for him. "**I wanted to**," he said, recovering. "**And just because we're here to watch over Endymion-sama doesn't mean we can't enjoy ourselves while he does his job, ne? It was just a thought.**" Kunzite's hold on his wrist loosened somewhat as he thought over the younger man's words, for which Zoisite was grateful. He tried to pull it out of the other man's grasp when Kunzite stood suddenly. "**Very well**," he said, his voice softening as he began pulling Zoisite along with him. It wasn't as forceful as he had expected, but he was still just being pulled along for the ride.

"**Very well, what**?" he asked, trying his best to hide the annoyance in his tone. Kunzite stopped for a moment to look at him as though he was a child asking why they were going to the toy store. "**You wanted to dance, didn't you**?" he asked as though clarifying. Zoisite felt his cheeks growing warm once more and turned his head away while mumbling "**Hai, hai.**" The young man had no idea what to do with this situation. Kunzite wasn't mad at him, was the one thought that kept repeating in his head. He wasn't mad at him and he was actually going to dance with him. If this turned out to be a drunken dream, he was going to be very, very pissed. . .and someone was going to pay for it. He tried to keep his breathing even as they stepped onto the dance floor. There was no doubt who was going to be leading in all of this. One look at the size difference in the two was enough to know. It wasn't so much that Zoisite was small, but rather Kunzite was just that big. He felt his breath hitch as Kunzite's hand went to his waist, and he somehow managed to make himself put his own on the taller man's shoulder. The hand that had stayed latched onto his wrist this whole time, slid down and took hold of his hand instead. After a moment or two to allow them to adjust to the tune being played, Kunzite started the dance; his movements precise and accurate, almost military like in his execution. Zoisite followed his lead, falling into step with practiced ease. He had taken lessons once during a particularly slow month while he'd been stationed in Europe. He tried not to think of a time long ago when the four of them had often attended parties like this, accompanied by four beautiful warrior princesses. He wanted to focus on this moment now, and that was hard enough after drinking without letting his mind wander as well. He pressed closer to Kunzite as subtly as he could, after all he doubted this would be happening ever again and he wanted to remember every detail. He even wanted to remember spotting Nephrite holding out his hand in invitation to the princess of Jupiter over Kunzite's shoulder. If he wasn't mistaken he could feel Kunzite's grip tightening as if to pull him closer still.

All too quickly the song had ended, leaving Zoisite feeling more than a little disappointed. He felt Kunzite's hand leaving his waist and knew the moment had passed: they were back to being the third and first shitennou once more. To his surprise he felt the hand under his chin, gently tilting his face up to look at Kunzite. The taller man stared at him for a few moments as if observing every detail of his face: it was both unnerving and flattering. He continued to simply stare at him, a look of uncertainty on his face that was foreign and endearing. It was times like these that Zoisite wished he could read minds. It was so rare for Kunzite to actually show his emotions to just one of them, let alone here in the open. Perhaps it was the freedom in their disguises, but it looked like he was fighting some sort of inner battle. Just as Zoisite was about to say something, Kunzite leaned down and pressed their lips together, and Zoisite didn't think much after that. His eyes closed as his reflexes kicked in and he leaned into the kiss. His hands pressed into Kunzite's chest as the older man grabbed his right shoulder with his left hand and wrapped his right hand around the back of Zoisite's neck. When they broke apart, Zoisite didn't move and his eyes stayed closed for a moment. Eventually he drew one hand up to his lips, a sort of dreamy look in his now opened eyes. No one had ever kissed him before: not in his second lifetime anyway. Beryl had taken him from his family when he was twelve and he hadn't really bothered to find a boyfriend or girlfriend in that time. His memories before Beryl were fuzzy at best anyway. "**K-Kunzite**," was all he could manage to say after that. The older man was wrapping one of Zoisite's black curls around his finger, but turned to look down at him. As he did so, he spotted a familiar masked figure making his way along the room's perimeter. Their eyes met for a moment, the king nodding briefly, before he continued on his way. Things seemed to be going well for the first time in a long while. However the king never quite made it out the door. Kunzite watched in mild horror as he bumped into the Lunarian Queen. He wished it had just ended with a simple apology, but no such luck. He continued to tangle his fingers in Zoisite's untidy curls as he watched Endymion take Serenity's hand in his and lead her to the dance floor. Zoisite had noticed the other man's diverted attention and turned slightly in his grasp to see what had caught his interest. His eyes widened and his jaw tightened simultaneously as he saw his king with the Baka-sama. His hands balled into firsts, pulling on the lapels of Kunzite's jacket as he watched the two sweeping across the dance floor.

This couldn't be happening again. Endymion-sama wouldn't do this to them again, Zoisite told himself. They watched as the king leaned forwards slightly, stopping himself inches away from Serenity's face. As if realizing where he was for the first time, he could be seen making apologies and walking to the exit quickly. Kunzite let his hand slide out of Zoisite's hair and back to his own side. He took a step away from the smaller man, his eyes shifting to the other two. He met Jadeite's gaze and after a few moments Nephrite pried his eyes away from the woman he was dancing with to lock eyes with Kunzite. He nodded quickly and tilted his head towards the door. Jadeite nodded his understanding and, with a scowl, Nephrite did too. Kunzite could see him making some sort of excuse to the young woman before taking his leave. Turning back to Zoisite, he could see the look of betrayal etched across his face. "**We're leaving now**," he said, his hand pressing into the small of the younger man's back to start him moving. "**I'm sure Endymion-sama has a very good explanation for that.**" He had better. With that, the four men made their way back outside the palace and teleported back to the realm of Chaos to await their orders.

**So wow that ended up being waaay longer than I originally anticipated, and some parts I'm not completely satisfied with. But I hoped you enjoyed it nonetheless. It was kind of . . . sappy, but I promise to get to some fighting eventually. **

**Also useless trivia: Kunzite's cover name is Kenji and Zuru is short for Yuzuru which is Zoisite's cover name. **

**Thanks again to the reviewers, I just figured out how to do replies, haha.**


End file.
